Each Other's Brother
by Spazzumtard
Summary: At the start of First Year, even before they get to Hogwarts, Harry remembers something from a long time ago. On the train, he finds someone who he realizes he's met before. No pairings. Oneshot.


**Okay, so this idea has been with me for a while, but I finally decided to put it to paper—er...computer.**

**Takes place in Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone (Philosopher's Stone) on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and the Hogwarts Express.**

**Hints of manipulative Weasleys, but only if you squint.**

**NO PAIRING**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

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**Platform Nine and Three-Quarters**

Harry had done it. He was on the platform—and he hadn't crashed into the barrier. He looked around, taking in all of the sights. The scarlet train was amazing to the eleven-year-old boy. The crowd looked very similar to the people that were in Diagon Alley when he had gone with Hagrid. The platform itself wasn't all that interesting. There were two bathrooms on one side of the iron archway—men and women. One the other side, though, was something very odd. Fireplaces, at least five, stood side-by-side in the wall. As Harry watched, one glowed green and a man stepped through, followed by teenaged girl, another younger girl, then an older woman. After her, the fire faded back to its normal yellow.

Harry shook himself—must be a Wizarding thing. He put it out of his mind and started pushing his cart down the platform, looking for an empty seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."

The older woman who stood next to him sighed exasperatedly. "Oh, Neville."

Harry stopped. That name sounded familiar…had he heard it before?

Before he could think much about it, he was bumped into. "Move it, Firsty," a teenaged boy wearing a black robe with green trim sneered at him.

Harry nodded and pushed away, not saying anything and trying to make himself appear as invisible as possible. He didn't want to draw too much attention to himself. He quickly maneuvered through the crowd until he found an empty compartment (lucky him!) near the end of the train. Luckily, the red-haired twins that he had followed through the barrier were nearby and helped him get his trunk onto the train.

They later stopped by and introduced themselves (Fred and George) and their brother Ron to him. Ron stayed in the compartment with him, but Harry felt awkward. Ron had asked him about…_that night_, and if he remembered anything—other than green light.

They talked a little about magic and their respective families. They even got some goodies from the snack cart. Things started getting more comfortable while talking about the snacks that Harry had never heard of (Berties Bott's Every Flavor Beans was very interesting…and not really in a good way).

The round-faced boy from the platform came by asking if they had seen a toad. After they had told him no, he left looking miserable. Harry only half heard Ron saying, "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could…" He was thinking about the boy—he looked kind of familiar too, but Harry just couldn't place how.

Harry snapped back to reality when the compartment door opened again. This time it was a girl with bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth. "Had anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one,"

That was the second time that name grabbed at his thoughts.

"Oh!" The girl exclaimed, looking at Ron (whom, Harry noticed for the first time, had his wand out). "Are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."

Ron looked torn between irritated and nervous. "Er—all right." He started waving his wand and saying a "spell", but Harry had lost his focus. All he could see was the wand…

And suddenly he was in a memory.

_Another wand—_in far better shape than Ron's—_was waving at a kitchen sink. Dishes began washing themselves. Harry could feel himself giggling and clapping his toddler hands at the dancing plates. He must have been around a year old. _

_A dark haired man walked in front of him and bent, wiping at his cheeks with a cloth. "Was that a good dinner, Son?" Harry tried turning his face away from the cloth, but when it was taken away he gave his father a huge smile, showing off his two bottom teeth. _

_Da released him from the high chair and set him on the floor, helping him walk by holding his hands. They walked into the sitting room. A red haired woman was kneeling in front of the fireplace, talking to someone. "We are all done with dinner. You can come through any time. Harry is very excited to see his 'brother'." She said brother in a joking way and she laughed—a very melodious laugh. _

_Harry didn't hear what the other person said. Da was tickling his sides. Mum came over, smiling at the two of them. Da looked at her with a big smile. She bent over and kissed Harry on the forehead, then did the same to Da, but on his cheek. _

_"They'll be over in just a little bit. They have to grab some diapers and such," she said to Da. Then Mum looked down at Harry. "Are you excited to see Neville?"_

_Harry squealed and clapped. "Nev!" he yelled. _

_Almost right after the fireplace glowed green. A woman stepped out, holding a bag, followed by a man holding a blond, round-faced baby boy. _

_Both toddlers locked eyes and started babbling at each other. Nev squirmed in his mum's arms, trying to get down. The parents sat both babies in the middle of the floor in front of them and they continued their babble conversation with all the seriousness that babies have (which is next to none). _

Nev…

Harry felt himself coming back to reality. The girl was still talking. "…course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough," she was saying. "I'm Hermione Granger, by the way. Who are you?"

Before Ron could say anything to her, Harry stood up. "Who was the boy that had lost his toad? What was his name?"

The girl—Hermione—looked a little affronted about him not answering her question and introducing himself. She huffed. "His name is Neville—Neville Longbottom."

Harry's heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. "Where is he?" he asked, his voice cracking.

"I don't know. He was going up and down the train."

"Why do you care?" Ron asked, but Harry gave no answer. Instead he opened the compartment door and stepped out. He looked up and down the hallway, but didn't see him.

He hurried down the way he had seen the boy going, ignoring the two in the compartment behind him. He could hear Hermione saying, "Well, that was very rude."

He could also hear Ron yelling after him, "Wait! Harry! You're supposed to stay here with me and be my friend." That sounded a little odd to Harry, but he didn't give any sign that he had heard.

He passed a compartment and looked in through the window. His feet halted, his body almost falling forward from the momentum. He took a step towards the closed door, staring intently at the boy inside who had a bowed head, looking utterly lost.

Harry couldn't help himself. He pulled the door open, causing the boy to look up at him, at first with hope (that he'd have the toad), then disappointment (that he didn't have the toad), the confusion (why was he here then?).

Harry opened his mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out. He swallowed and tried again. Quietly, very nervous about the boy's answer, he asked, "Is it really you, Nev?"

Neville's eyebrows furrowed in thought. He looked Harry over once, then twice, and then he found himself stopping at the bright green eyes. His own brown eyes widened in understanding and he stood. "Harry?" he asked, in barely a whisper.

Harry smiled broadly. "It is you," was his response.

Both stepped towards the other and grasped each other in a familial hug. Neither could stop the few tears.

At long last, each had, _finally_, found their brother.

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**I've always felt that it was possible for some children to remember their early toddler years. Then I had the idea that maybe Harry, after going to the Dursley's at such a young age, would cling to those memories and remember them better than most. Neville I could see in a similar situation. Not so much with the verbal abuse that the Dursley's gave Harry, but possibly a kind of emotional neglect (and maybe _some_ abuse too— I mean, dropping a child out of a window? Seriously?).**


End file.
